


Clocks and Fates

by Rachel_Lu



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Dating, F/M, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Gunshot Wounds, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-04
Updated: 2016-02-04
Packaged: 2018-05-18 02:50:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5895163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachel_Lu/pseuds/Rachel_Lu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose Tyler thinks that her timer will never count down and she'll never find her soulmate.  Little does she know he's closer than she thought.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Clocks and Fates

She'd kept a careful eye on the timer on her wrist.  It fluctuated.  It would count her down to two minutes, two minutes from meeting the love of her life, but suddenly she'd be back to three years.  She'd whip around at the bus station, staring for someone who would be her true love.  She'd see plenty of young men looking confused and give up, not knowing which one she was looking for.

They all had their timers.  It counted down from birth.  Some counted down from twenty years, some forty, and some fourteen.  Somehow, Rose Tyler's was all over the place, and she couldn't figure out why.  Her friend Mickey had counted steadily down from twenty one years and the second it hit zero, he'd met his dream girl and they'd been married for a year. 

Rose, on the other hand, apparently had a very spazzy soulmate.  She'd get excited, her timer getting close, and then suddenly it was ripped from her. Did he even look at his timer?  She was starting to think that she'd have to line up every man in the world and meet them all one by one so that at some point her timer would hit zero.  It _had_ to.  

Eventually, she just gave up searching for him.  After all, the point of a soul mate was for the two people to find each other, wasn't it?  It would have to be business usual from then on, if she had any hope of finding him at all.  

As it happened, she met him when she was at work, folding clothes and generally hating everything that happened to her.  She checked the clock over and over, but the time never seemed to change.  Sighing to herself, she went back to her work, thinking about the pub visit she was going to make with Shireen and Keisha.  

Really, she'd expected this to be another normal day, until a man came crashing through the doors with a gun and sent people into a panic.  Rose dropped her work and walked away slowly, hoping the man wouldn't notice her.  Suddenly someone grabbed her and pulled her under a display table.  He covered her mouth before she could scream and she fought against him.

"Shh," he whispered in her ear, sounding, dare she think it, a bit afraid.  "It's okay, we're hiding."

He released her mouth and she turned around to look at the man.  His hair was wild and he was wearing a suit of all things.  She looked him up and down before returning her gaze to his (frankly gorgeous) face.  "Who is he?"

The man shrugged.  "A robber, I don't know," he said, pulling her back farther until her back was against the wall.  "We don't want him to see you."

"We're just going to have to wait here?" She asked quietly, disbelievingly.

He nodded and held his hand out to her.  "Dr. John Smith.  Pleasure to meet you."

She smiled.  "Rose Tyler.  Should we try to get out of here?"

He opened his mouth to reply, but a set of feet appeared in front of the table.  John grabbed Rose around the waist and held her close to him.  She pulled her legs up in case he was going to look or saw shadows she was casting.  John was breathing shallowly next her her, and she could practically hear his heartbeat.  

"Are you afraid?" She whispered, possibly too close to his ear.

"Adrenaline," he whispered back.

They waited as they listened to the chaos outside.  It seemed as though the entire store was clearing out.  Rose swallowed audibly and looked over at John.  "We should leave."

He shook his head.  "On my count," he tole her.  

Somehow, she didn't feel like arguing with him.  He was deathly confident and if he thought he could get them out of this, it sure seemed that he was going to.  His free hand moved down to grip hers, and without thinking, she let him lace their fingers together.  

The robber was yelling, but from where Rose was sitting, and the way her blood was pounding in her ears, she wasn't sure what he was saying.  It didn't matter, if they could get out unscathed.

John gave her hand a sharp squeeze.  "Run."

He pulled her out from under the table and straight towards the front door.  The robber shouted after them and fired a warning shot into the ceiling.  John pushed Rose so she was running directly in front of him and stayed that way until they escaped.  

"Keep moving," John hissed, "We've got to make it to the police station."

Rose grappled for his hand again and he let her take it and she pulled him along until they could hail for a taxi.  For the first time, as she was raising her hand to flag someone down, she looked over at John.  He wore a grimace on his face and was trying to look at his shoulder.  

"John?" She asked hesitantly.  

She watched as he immediately put on the mask of a smile and turned to her.  "Yes?"

"Let me see," she moved around him, still holding his hand, to see blood trickling down from the top of his shoulder.  She covered her mouth with her free hand before removing it and fumbling with her mobile.

"Rose, please, it's fine," he said.  

"I'm calling the police," she said, "And I'm telling them you were shot."

John started to protest, but she'd already dialed 999 and was giving them the address of the store and the robbery and _yes, also, my friend was shot._ John huffed quietly when she hung up and put her phone away.  "Are you happy?" he snapped.

"Yes," Rose replied, staring straight into his eyes.  "And I'm taking you to the hospital."

John was grumbling the whole time until she dragged him into a taxi.  She turned to look over at him.  "How bad is it?" she asked.  

"It's fine," he said through gritted teeth.

She wrapped an arm around his waist and gave him a careful squeeze.  He wrapped his uninjured arm around her.  She felt odd, how comfortable she was with him, how she'd never been with another man.  

"I'm really okay," he promised her.  

They waited for what felt like hours in the waiting room.  John told her that she didn't have to stay with him, but she blew him off and told him that she wanted to stay.  They immediately took him into surgery to remove the bullet from his shoulder.  The nurse approached Rose, an easy smile on her face.

"How are you related to the patient?" She asked, her voice light and chipper.  

"Oh, not related, we just met," Rose told her.

The nurse furrowed her brows and raised her eyebrow at Rose's wrist.  Rose gave her a questioning look and lifted her timer to her face.

It had hit zero, and judging by her statistics, it had ended about two hours ago, when she'd met John.

"Oh," she said softly, looking up at the nurse, who was now grinning like a lunatic.

"Soulmate," she said, nodding and putting it on the clipboard.  "You can go to visit his room in about twenty minutes."

Rose nodded and sat down in the chair, somehow more stressed than before.  How would John react to being her soulmate?  What if he hated the idea?  He probably did.  Why wouldn't he?  She was nothing special, and if he hadn't saved her back in Henrik's, she'd definitely be dead.

"Miss Tyler?" The nurse called, breaking her from her reverie.  

"Twenty minutes already?" She asked.  The nurse nodded and Rose stood to follow her to John's hospital room. 

He was sitting up in bed, a bandage over his shoulder and his arm in a sling.  When she entered the room, a large smile lit his face.  She returned it and sat down on his uninjured side.  He reached his hand out for her, wiggling his fingers, and she slid her hand into his, taking care for it to be her timer hand.  

"How are you feeling?"  She asked.  

"Alright," he murmured.  "They've got it all out."

"That's good."

"Are _you_ alright?" He asked her, his brow drawing together.  "You seem a bit peaky."

She fidgeted in her seat.  "Yeah, well," she lifted her wrist, taking his hand with it to show him her timer.  

He squinted at her watch and then grinned at her.  "Oh!" He said, sounding excited.  "Stand up, would you?"

She stood, uncertain, and he took his hand from her.  She felt her heart stutter in her chest.  He was probably going to tell her to leave.  She'd heard of the Rejected, those whose soulmates didn't want to be with someone and sent there would be lover on his or her way.  

Before she could be too embarrassed, though, he reached up to cup her cheek and drew her down to him.  She ended up turned awkwardly, her hands on either side of his hips, as his hand cradled her jaw.  He pulled her ever closer and pressed his mouth to hers. 

Stifling a gasp, she kissed him back, but of course, he was tired, and it was over all too soon.  He beamed winningly at her and she pushed back in for another kiss before sitting back in her seat.  

"You're blushing," he said, sounding quite proud.

She gave a breathless laugh.  "Yeah."

He reached for her hand again and she gave it to him, realizing that every piece of her now belonged to him, and vice versa.

"When I saw you," he said slowly, "I'd hoped it would be you."

"Well, to be completely fair, we've come close to meeting once or twice."  She explained to him about her fluctuating timer and he had the decency to blush.

"I suppose I do have the tendency to rush around," he said softly, "I wish I hadn't.  I could've met you sooner."

She smiled.  "Well we found each other now," she said quietly.

"Well then, my soulmate, will you stay here with me?" He asked, half teasing, but looking hopeful.  

She squeezed his hand in both of hers and dropped a kiss to his knuckles.  "Yeah.  Forever."


End file.
